My Top Ten Films of 2000

by Marcy Dermansky

A good movie transports me, takes me out of my own self-indulgent universe and into the lives of others. It's almost bliss, that kind of total immersion: it doesn't matter to me if the film is hilariously funny or heartbreakingly sad, entirely magical or a simple story about ordinary people.

That's explains why I can fall in love with both Ken Lonergan's "You Can Count on Me," a small, moving film about a sister and a brother living in a small New England town and Ang Lee's epic action drama "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."

As the independent film guide, I worried that it was my responsibility to only include "independent films." Then I thought: "No, that's stupid." After all, Jim Jarmusch and the Coen Brothers are about as independent as American filmmaking gets, yet both "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai" and "O Brother Where Art Thou" are produced by studios. I grinned all the way throughout "Almost Famous" so I included it on my list even though Cameron Crowe's previous film was a major Tom Cruise vehicle. Akihiko Shiota's "Sasayaki" a sadomasochistic story about two seemingly innocent teens in love, technically must be considered a world film, but I can't imagine a film more independent in spirit. Plus, I loved it.

I loved all of these films.

 

You Can Count On Me
by Ken Lonergan

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Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai
by Jim Jarmush

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Sasayaki (Moonlight Whispers)
by Akihiko Shiota

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
by Ang Lee

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Before Night Falls
by Julian Schnabel

 

 

 

State and Main
by David Mamet

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Quills
by Philip Kaufman

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Almost Famous
by Cameron Crowe

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The Eyes of Tammy Faye
by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato

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O Brother, Where Art Thou?
by the Coen Brothers

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